Mental Arithmetic: Short-Term Storage and Information Processing in a Cognitive Skill

Abstract

Although there have been rapid increases in both the number and sophistication of calculating aids in recent years, the simpler sorts of mental arithmetic will probably keep their place as common and useful skills. An understanding of the psychological processes that they entail should therefore be of some general value. There are at least two fairly good reasons for supposing that such an understanding might be possible. First, people are usually able to give clear verbal reports about their strategies for doing mental arithmetic. These reports give insights into some of the characteristics of performance. Second, it seems probable that mental calculation involves cognitive systems about which a good deal is already known from pure research. For example, it is known that people have a far greater capacity for written than for mental calculation. This is presumably because written information is relatively permanent, whereas information held temporarily in memory, as in mental calculation, is rapidly forgotten. The characteristics of short-term retention form a whole area of experimental psychology, and can hopefully be shown to apply to mental arithmetic.